The NALP report on diversity in U.S. law firms has been released and raises many important questions. Nikia Gray, Executive Director of NALP, stated that the data shows that the industry has not made the necessary progress to address the issue.
The NALP Report is an invaluable resource that promotes transparency regarding the promotion and employment practices in U.S. law firm. The report shows that only 25% of partners are women, despite them making up half the associate ranks at law firms. The number of Black lawyers (4 percent) and Latinx lawyers (5 percent) is significantly lower than their respective representations in the U.S. population, which stands at 13 percent and 19%, respectively. However, Asians, a term widely recognized as being too broad and covering many different cultural and ethnic backgrounds, are slightly under-represented (approx. 8 percent in total lawyers population, compared to 5.9 percent in total U.S. citizens.
Many law firms will celebrate and praise incremental progress, as the data indicates an improvement in the hiring process of associates over recent years. They will also pay attention to the number of “people of colour” in their legal ranks. These celebrations should be supported with caution. Gray discusses Gray’s dismal 30 year-long report on the proportion of women partners and people of color, noting that “at this rate, we still willn’t be anywhere close to parity in the next 30 years.” This is an inexplicable failure. It shows that very little has been done to address exclusionary practices and close the ranks of partnership to non-Caucasian, cisgender, and non-heterosexual lawyers em>
According to her analysis, law firm leaders should take a closer look at their businesses, not just the hiring of lawyers but all aspects of the firm’s operations, including the issue of inclusion, equity and belonging.
That sentiment is mine. I am a Black man, a former partner in a large law company and have worked for over 30 years in large law firms. I believe that the legal profession should do more to increase participation by lawyers from under-represented racial or ethnic backgrounds at all levels of the profession.
We need to have a continuous discussion about the goal of expanding representation. Too many organizations focus solely on “diversity”, without considering why. The legal profession should be held responsible for promoting our collective goals of building a strong multicultural democracy and supporting the institutions, norms, and practices essential to that success. Our Constitution and rule of law make lawyers an integral part of the American democracy. To ensure the fair and just continuation and growth of America’s experiment in self-governance, multicultural democracy and multilingualism, we must encourage and embrace participation from all sections of society.
Law firms have also been the subject of intentional discrimination in legal profession. It’s not difficult to see that law firms have always refused to hire women, Jews, or Black, Latinx, or Asian lawyers. These discriminatory practices were also used by law schools, courts, and the entire legal system. Intentional discrimination was made more illegal, but subtle discriminatory practices remained. They continue to be used today. Lawyers would have also been involved in the creation, implementation, and defense of legislation and laws that were discriminatory or rooted in racism. These practices, taken together, have contributed to the widening gap between the top and bottom of the profession. The law firms must take responsibility for changing the circumstances and consequences that result from their past behavior.
It is difficult to meet the challenges. California’s Latinx population is approximately 40% of the total population. Whites make up 35%. Los Angeles has 6.63 percent Latinx lawyers. Washington D.C. has a majority/plural of Blacks, with just over 44 percent of total population. Yet, only 6.3 percent of all law firm lawyers are Black. There is still much to be done.
These stark disparities should be addressed by law firm leaders, legal scholars and judges as well as non-lawyers. We must be more deliberate about creating pipelines and how to promote inclusion and belonging. Also, we need to closely examine the structural and systemic aspects of practicing law that hinder our ability to raise more people from under-represented communities.
NALP deserves our congratulations for its 30 years of monitoring data and encouraging transparency in hiring and promotion in law firms. Let’s all hope that next year’s report will reflect some significant changes.
View Bloomberg Law’s analysis on the NALP Report, “The Momentum For Black Lawyers Might Already be Fading,” with Rick Banks, SCRJ Faculty Director.